My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic by Lauren Caven
by LadyZoolander
Summary: Stories I have created based on the My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic TV series following the main characters and some made for peripheral characters also (especially Derpy and Dr Whooves). Chapter 3 (A Dash Through Time) is awaiting a prequel explaining that Pinkie was adopted, please be patient.
1. Scootaloo Surprise

**My Little Pony - Scootaloo Surprise!**

"Happy birthday, Scootaloo!" cheered Pinkie Pie, who was holding a birthday cake with Scootaloo's name on it, "Make a wish!" Scootaloo thought for a moment, then closed her eyes, made her wish and blew out the candles.

"Yay!" everyone celebrated.

"This is such a fun party!" cried Sweetie Belle.

"Yeah, and the food is great!" mumbled Apple Bloom through a mouthful of cake.

"I guess…" sighed Scootaloo.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just…Rainbow Dash promised she would be here. I haven't seen her yet, and I'm worried she won't show up now."

"Don't you worry, Sugarcube," Applejack comforted Scootaloo, "Rainbow Dash wouldn't break a promise to her biggest fan!" Just then, the door opened, and in came Rainbow Dash, holding a large present wrapped in blue shiny paper and rainbow ribbon.

"Rainbow Dash!" shouted Scootaloo gleefully, "You made it!" All of the fillies began to crowd around Rainbow.

"Of course I did! And, I've got a surprise for you…" she smiled. She laid the parcel down on the floor, and Scootaloo opened it.

"Oh my gosh! This is amazing! Thank you so much Rainbow!" Inside was a brand new scooter; gold with rainbow streamers and wheels.

"Well, I didn't have any idea what to get you, until I saw this and remembered how much you love playing with your scooter." Scootaloo ran up and hugged Rainbow.

"I love it I love it I love it!" she squeaked. Everyone began crowding around to look at the scooter.

"Hey!" she snapped, "I only just got this, and it's special, so no one gets to touch it!" They all stepped back a little to admire the gift. "It is the best present ever! Rainbow Dash, you are the best!" Rainbow Dash smiled cheerily with delight.

"Are you going to ride it to school tomorrow?" asked Twist.

"Yeah! That would be awesome!" she said.

"Maybe you could even use it for show and tell!"

"Oh my gosh, that would be the best show and tell ever! And all because of you, Rainbow Dash!" She ran up and hugged her hero again. Rainbow Dash knew she had bought the right present for her little protégé.

The next morning, Scootaloo woke excitedly, remembering that she was going to take her new scooter to school. She raced through her breakfast and put all of her equipment in her bag. Just as she was about to wheel her Scooter out the door, she stopped. It was such a lovely gift, and she didn't want to rush through a puddle and cover it in mud, or for any of it to be damaged, otherwise she thought she would disappoint Rainbow Dash.

"I can't take this to school!" she gasped to herself. She darted back upstairs, left her scooter in her room and picked up something else to take for show and tell, then rushed back out the door on her old scooter.

When Scootaloo arrived at the school, all of her class were waiting outside in the schoolyard.

"Oh Scootaloo!" called Diamond Tiara, "Let's see this wonderful new scooter of yours." Scootaloo proceeded to trot forward with her scooter.

"I…I didn't bring it," she sighed, "it's too special, and I don't want it getting ruined."

"What you mean is, you don't have a new scooter from Rainbow Dash," sneered Silver Spoon, "why would she waste her time, giving a blank-flank like you a fancy gift like that anyway?"

"She does too have one!" growled Sweetie Belle as she and Apple Bloom joined their friend at her side, "And she's right, it's too good to take to school, and definitely too good for you to get your grubby hooves on!" Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon lunged at the group of friends and began attacking. The girls fought back, and the other ponies stood around chanting the various names of those involved. It wasn't until Miss Cheerilee came outside and broke up the fight that the noise stopped.

"Girls!" she exclaimed, "what in the world caused this?"

"Apple Bloom insulted us!" screeched Diamond Tiara.

"If that's true, then Apple Bloom can say she's sorry, but that is no reason to attack someone. Well Apple Bloom? Say you're sorry," demanded Miss Cheerilee.

"Sorry," mumbled Apple Bloom.

"Now you say sorry for fighting." Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon both looked at each other.

"Sorry," they both said rather insincerely.

"That's better. Come along class, time for your morning lesson." The young ponies lined up and followed their teacher into their classroom.

"All right-y class," chirped Cheerilee, "it's time for this week's show and tell."

"I guess you're going to give a disappointing talk, Blank-Flank!" Diamond Tiara jeered at Scootaloo.

"Well, since you're so eager to talk, Diamond Tiara, you can go first!" snapped Cheerilee, overhearing the commotion. Diamond Tiara shot an evil look at Scootaloo.

"My item for show and tell is this." She held up a silver necklace with a pink heart-shaped pendant that sparkled in the light, which made the other ponies gasped in amazement.

"Very nice, Diamond Tiara, why don't you tell us all about it?" She smiled at her teacher.

"My dad gave me this for my birthday, so I know it's _extra_ special. I only wear it on special occasions." She shot a look in Scootaloo's direction.

"Very good, Diamond Tiara. Scootaloo, would you like to go next?" Scootaloo looked around nervously.

"Uhh…okay," she gulped sheepishly. Scootaloo slowly walked up to the front of the class, her legs shaking as she did so.

"This…" she began, "is my alarm clock." She held up a small red clock to the class.

"Oh, um…how interesting!" Cheerilee said nervously, "please tell us more."

"Well…it rings to wake me up in the morning, and I get up at 7 to get to school…and it's red…that's it, I guess."

"Well...what a lovely alarm clock. Take your seat please." Scootaloo looked down in disappointment.

"You did…good…" said Apple Bloom.

"Yeah, I liked the bit about how it's red!" smiled Sweetie Belle.

"Thanks guys, but I know it was terrible," she sighed, "even Miss Cheerilee thought it was bad."

"Well!" hissed Silver Spoon, "looks like Blank-Flank has nothing special to talk about." Scootaloo's heart sank, and she lay her head down on her desk.

Scootaloo trudged home feeling despondent. She knew that her scooter was special, but to her it was so special that she couldn't bear it if something happened to it. She opened her front door and slumped up the stairs to her bedroom. Her brand new scooter was sitting against the wall opposite her bed, gleaming in the afternoon sun that shone through the window. She sat down on her bed and stared at her gift. She then heard a knock at her door, and ran downstairs to answer it.

"Hi!" chirped Pinkie Pie from the front porch, "I brought my scooter over, you wanna bring yours out so we can play together?"

"Uh…sure!" said Scootaloo. She rushed back upstairs, only to remember what she had been thinking about moments before.

"I can't take this out!" she exclaimed. Then she remembered that her old scooter was down in the garden. She grabbed her helmet and rushed out.

"How come you're not using your new one?" asked Pinkie Pie as they wheeled along, side by side.

"Well, it's such a nice gift for Rainbow Dash to give me, and it's really special because she's my hero and she gave it to me, and if I take it outside it's gonna get muddy or worse: broken."

"But you're gonna use it at some point, right?"

"Well…I don't know."

"Hmm. Okay!" The two scooted along until they reached cupcake corner, where Rainbow Dash was waiting for them.

"Hey guys!" she beamed, "Scootaloo? What happened to your new scooter?"

"Uh, well.." she stuttered awkwardly, "I haven't used it."

"Well why not?" Rainbow looked at her, puzzled. Scootaloo took a deep breath and started talking at a high speed.

"I love the scooter and it's super special because you gave it to me and I'm scared to take it outside and ride it because I don't want it to get dirty or broken because it's the most special thing in the world to me, and I'm scared that if any of those things happen that you'll get upset because you bought me it and it's special!"

"Oh, Scootaloo," giggled Rainbow, "I won't get mad if it gets dirty or broken!"

"You won't?" Scootaloo raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not! I bought you that as a gift because I wanted you to use it. I'd be more upset if it sat in your room forever, gathering dust and not being played with. Even if something is special to you, you'll regret it one day if you don't play with it while you can. One day, you'll be a big pony like me, and you'll be too big to use that scooter and probably get a new, bigger one. If you haven't used your scooter by then, you'll regret it."

"Really?"

"Yep!" cheered Pinkie Pie, "in fact, all the memories that you'll make playing with it will make it even more special when that time comes."

"I guess you're right. I'm gonna go home right now and get my new scooter!" The three friends soared off; Pinkie Pie and Scootaloo on their scooters while Rainbow Dash flew. When they arrived at her house, her friends Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were waiting outside for her. Unfortunately, so were Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. They were all standing with their scooters, except for Apple Bloom, who didn't have a scooter of her own.

"Hey Scootaloo," sneered Diamond Tiara, "what are you doing on that scabby old thing?"

"Yeah," chorused Silver Spoon, "I thought you'd be using your 'wonderful' new scooter from Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo and her friends looked angrily at the pair.

"Actually," she said rather matter-of-factly, "I'm just going in to get my new scooter." She propped her old scooter against the wall of her porch and raced inside to get her new scooter. Just before she picked it up, she took a few seconds to stand back and admire it in perfect condition, just one last time. She smiled, knowing she was about to have lots of fun on it.

"I got it!" she called as she exited the front door. As she trotted forward to reveal her shiny new scooter, Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara's jaws dropped.

"Whaddya think?" she said proudly.

"I…uh…what…" they stammered.

"Looks like they're lost for words!" chuckled Sweetie Belle.

"Let's go play!" squealed Pinkie Pie.

"Hey Apple Bloom," called Scootaloo, "I know you don't have one of your own, so do you want my old scooter?"

"Oh my gosh, yes!" she gushed, "now I can join in with you guys!"

"Just remember: I've made a lot of great memories on it. Now it's your turn!" The pair both giggled, and the group sped off, leaving Diamond Tiara and Silver spoon in their dust cloud with shocked expressions.

"Well, Scootaloo, how does it feel, riding the coolest scooter ever?" asked Rainbow. Scootaloo turned her head to answer Rainbow.

"It feels great! I don't know what I was worried about." Just then, she looked forward to see a giant mud puddle in her path.

"Oh no!" she cried, as she was going too fast to stop. She skidded through the mucky puddle, coming out the other side with her scooter and herself covered in mud.

"Worth it!" she cheered, wiping the mud from her face. She and her friends all laughed, because they knew this was the first of many a good memory being made on her special scooter.


	2. Cabin Fever

**My Little Pony - Cabin Fever**

Twilight Sparkle sighed heavily. She was staring out of her bedroom window at all the ponies who were getting ready to go on vacation.

"I wish I were going somewhere nice too," she whispered to herself. Just then, Spike walked into her bedroom.

"Twilight, your friends are here to see you," he said. Just as she was about to get up to greet them, Pinkie Pie came bounding in the door, followed by Rainbow Dash and Rarity.

"OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH! I CAN'T WAIT!" cried Pinkie Pie, "AREN'T YOU EXCITED, RAINBOW DASH?!" Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Pinkie, we're all excited," she groaned with a hint of irritation, "but can you please calm down just a bit so I can tell Twilight what's going on."

Twilight looked confusedly at the group.

"What? What is going on?"

"Well, we wanted to ask you -" Rainbow Dash was cut off before she could finish.

"WE'RE ALL GOING ON VACATION!" Pinkie Pie hollered.

"Pinkie!" snapped Rarity, "Rainbow Dash was trying to ask Twilight if she would like to come too."

"Well, that's it. What do you think, Twilight?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Uh, well…Let me think about it," she murmured uneasily.

"Why, what's wrong?"

"I have a lot of work to do for Princess Celestia, and I can't let her down."

"Oh, boo," griped Rarity, "can't you take a break, just for a few days?"

"You could take your books with you!" suggested Spike.

"I guess so. All right, I'll go," smiled Twilight.

"YAY! TWILIGHT'S COMING!" Pinkie Pie jumped around joyously, "We're going to have so much fun!"

"Well, just remember that I have work to do too." The girls all turned to the door to leave.

"Great. We leave tomorrow morning at 10," Rainbow Dash smiled back, "see ya then!"

"Bye guys!" The three girls closed the door. Twilight slumped down the side of her bed.

"Oh Spike, I don't think I'm going to have much fun on this vacation," she sighed.

"Don't worry, Twilight," chirped Spike, "You'll have all your work done in no time and be able to have fun with everypony. I know you will, you're smart. Just don't stress too much."

"I'll try," she breathed with very little conviction.

Later than night, Twilight was packing her suitcase for the next day. She had neatly sorted everything she would need into groups before putting anything in her case. There was a pile of clothing, a pile of books, a pile of beach toys and pile of essentials like sun block, toothpaste and a toothbrush. She carefully began to slide everything into her case. It wasn't until she had inserted everything into her case that she realised that the zip wouldn't close!

"Oh dear," she whined, "I'll need to take some things out, but what?" She looked desperately at the contents of her suitcase.

"I want to take it all, but I need to think what I will need the most. Let's see, I'll definitely need my toothbrush and toothpaste, I can't have smelly breath. I guess I'll need some clothes, especially if I'm not going to be working the whole time. What if I was going out for a meal or down to the beach? And I guess if I do go to the beach I'll have to take my beach stuff like my towel and bucket and spade. The only thing left is…my books." Her head sunk sadly. She wanted so badly to go on vacation, but knew that her studies had to come first. Then she had a brain wave.

"I know! I'll take my backpack as well! I can fit my books and studying materials in there, and that way I can take everything!" Once she was finished she went to bed with a proud smile on her face. She knew that everything was going to work out just fine.

The next morning, Twilight woke up to see the sun was shining brightly through her bedroom window. She smiled sweetly as she remembered that today was the day they were going on vacation.

After she'd had her breakfast she headed to the station to meet her friends. They were all waiting for her when she arrived.

"Twilight!" Applejack shouted down the platform, "Hurry up, we don't wanna miss the train!" She turned around to see the train coming around the bend, about to pull into the station. She struggled to move quickly up the platform.

"Oh…these…books…are…so…heavy!" she strained. Fluttershy raced over to help.

"Here," she said, "I'll take your backpack so you don't have to carry so much." The six ponies made their way onto the train. The carriage was full of young ponies; all heading off on vacation; all excited and chattering.

"Aha! There are six seats together!" exclaimed Rarity. They all sat down, and the train pulled off. Spike sat on the luggage rack above their table to make sure their bags were safe during the journey.

"Yay, we're moving!" Pinkie Pie called out. They all watched as the view outside the windows changed from Ponyville into the fields.

"You know what we should do?" asked Rainbow excitedly, "We should play a travelling game."

"Ooh, how about I Spy?" suggested Fluttershy.

"That's a great idea, Fluttershy! Are you in, Twilight?"

"Sorry guys," Twilight sighed, "I'm going to do some of my studying now. That way, I'll have more time for fun when we get there."

"Ok. I'll go first. I spy with my little eye, something beginning with…B!"

"B, b, b…brothers?" Applejack pointed to a set of twins sitting a few seats away from them.

"Nope."

"Hmm…is it board?" Rarity was looking at a surfboard up in the overhead shelves under some luggage.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "'Fraid not. Come on guys, this is an easy one!"

"Balloon! Box! Baby! Bear! Bolt! Branch! Beaver!"

"Pinkie Pie, do you really sea a beaver on this train?"

"No, but it begins with B." Twilight Sparkle was getting frustrated. She didn't want to stop her friends from having fun, and she really wanted to join in, but knew that she needed to study.

"Are you okay, Twilight?" asked Applejack.

"I'm fine," she said, "I'm just finding it a little hard to concentrate."

"We'll try to keep it down."

"No no, it's not that, I just find it hard to read when the train is moving, plus the entire train is making noise. It's not anyone's fault I can't concentrate." She had a look of deep thought on her face. "You know what? I think I'll put my books down for a while and join in with your game."

"Yay!" squealed Pinkie Pie.

"I think I know what it is," Fluttershy mumbled softly, "is it beach ball, Rainbow Dash?"

"Yep, you got it! Now it's your turn," she smiled.

The game went on for most of the trip, apart from the break the ponies took in between when the snack cart came around and they ate their lunch.

Soon the train pulled into the station of the little seaside town of Shoreton. It was a relatively quiet town usually, but that day it was swarming with tourist ponies, all enjoying the summer sun. The group disembarked the train and looked at the map on the station wall.

"So, which way is it to the cabin, Rarity?" Fluttershy inquired.

"Well," said Rarity, pointing to a red dot on the map, "it says that we are here. We have to walk along the promenade, and after the pier but before the lighthouse is the cabin."

"I can't wait to get there!" Pinkie Pie was bounding about, as usual. As they walked along the promenade they noticed that there were many shops and cafés to visit and keep them entertained. It was a long walk, but eventually they arrived at Rarity's parents' cabin. It was a small, blue wooden bungalow that overlooked the beach. There was a little garden at the front with bright flowers growing beautifully.

"Well, here we are!" announced Rarity as she unlocked and opened the door.

"Wow, this is amazing!" gasped Rainbow Dash. The front room was an open-plan kitchen-diner-living room, with a small set of stairs that led up from it to the attic bedroom.

"Ooh, it's sooooooo cosy!" squeaked Pinkie Pie, "Let's go choose our beds and unpack!" She bounded up the stairs, followed by Rainbow Dash who zoomed behind her while the rest of the group followed at their own pace. The bedroom had six small beds in it, each with a trunk at the bottom and a bedside table beside the bed, a large wardrobe and dressing table in the corner, and a door that led to the bathroom. The window was facing out onto the bay with a spectacular view of the harbour.

"I call this bed!" declared Rarity as she sat down on the bed next to the window.

"Hey, no fair! How come she gets the best bed?" complained Rainbow Dash.

"Because it's my cabin!"

"Rainbow, the bed opposite Rarity's is just as good, you know," whispered Fluttershy.

"Grrr. All right, I guess this'll be my bed," scowled Rainbow Dash as she swung her bag onto the bed.

"Well, I'll need a door nearest the bathroom, cause you never know when you'll need to go in the middle of the night!" cried Pinkie Pie.

"Too right," agreed Applejack, sitting down on the bed opposite.

"I don't mind which bed I take, why don't you choose, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked kindly.

"It's okay, as long as I get a good enough sleep to be able to work and play, I'll be fine," she said, "but if you're sure, I guess I'll take the one between Applejack and Rainbow."

"Okay then." Fluttershy placed down her suitcase beside her bed.

"Oh, Spike, I'm so sorry, you don't have a bed!" gasped Fluttershy, "you can have mine if you want and I'll sleep downstairs."

"Nah, it's okay," said Spike, "I brought a sleeping bag with me, I'll just sleep on the floor next to Rarity." He smiled sweetly at Rarity, blushing as he did so, while Rarity smiled back awkwardly.

While they were unpacking, the ponies discussed what to do first.

"I say we should go surfing!" cheered Rainbow Dash.

"And let the salty seawater get my hair all frizzy? No way! We should all sunbathe on the beach," snorted Rarity.

"Nonsense, if we're going to the beach we should be going to build the biggest sandcastle we can!" chirped Applejack.

"Um, I think it would be nice to look at sea creatures in the rock pools," mumbled Fluttershy.

"I know! I know! I know!" shrieked Pinkie Pie, "we should have a beach party!"

"You know, we should really ask Twilight what she wants to do," proposed Applejack, "well, Twilight? Whaddya think?" Twilight looked nervously over at her books. She knew she had to study, but at the same time she wanted to have fun with her friends so badly.

"I guess…sandcastle building sounds like fun," she stuttered sheepishly.

"Let's get going then!"

"I'm gonna stay here," Spike grunted at Twilight Sparkle, "if you feel like coming back and working." He folded his arms and looked sternly at Twilight. She smiled anxiously back at him.

"Uh…see you later, Spike!" she uttered.

The beach was only a few minutes from the cabin. It stretched right along the coastline of Shoreton, with a quiet cove at one end and the lighthouse at the other. A few hundred yards away from the lighthouse was the pier, which held a pretty little funfair with the usual rides and games: helter skelter, big wheel, dodgems, teacups, hook-a-duck, shooting gallery, face painting and plenty more. That day, the beach was abuzz with ponies enjoying the summer sun: playing games, building sandcastles, having picnics, sunbathing, paddling in the ocean and having lots of fun. The girls picked the perfect spot to start building their castle: right in the centre of the beach; halfway between the tide's edge and the wall that separated the beach from the promenade.

"All right, let's get started!" declared Applejack, picking up her spade. The friends spent a long time trying to build up their castle. All the while, Twilight kept stopping and looking glum.

"What's wrong Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just can't help but feel I should be studying right now. I feel like I'm letting Princess Celestia down," she exhaled.

"I see. Do you want me to come back to the cabin with you to help you study?"

"N-no, it's fine, I'll go by myself." Twilight slunk off in the direction of the cabin, looking very unhappy.

"Guys?" Fluttershy looked concerned, "I think we need to help Twilight. She's finding it hard to balance work and play, and I hate seeing her look sad."

"Well, what can we do? It's not like we can study for her," grumbled Rainbow Dash.

"I've got an idea!" cheered Pinkie Pie.

"I don't know, Dash, we should maybe talk to her about it first," replied Applejack.

"I know! I know! I know!" Pinkie Pie was still jumping up and down on the spot behind the group.

"I don't know, we've suggested things to help her earlier and she still can't make her mind up about what to do," whined Rarity as she shook her head.

"HEY! I HAVE AN IDEA!" Pinkie Pie yelped so loud that the whole beach must have turned around.

Meanwhile, back at the cabin, a forlorn Twilight was flicking through her books. The sun was still out, and she could hear everyone else outside having fun. In fact, it was all she could hear, and the only thought in her head was "I wish I was out there too".

"What's the matter, Twilight?" asked Spike, "I thought you said you felt like couldn't have fun until you finished your work."

"Oh Spike, it's not that. I just can't make up my mind what to do right now," she sighed, "Once I start reading, I end up getting so jealous of everyone having fun, but when I was with my friends I didn't feel like I was having fun, I just felt guilty about not studying."

"Well, gee Twilight, that's a tough choice." Just then Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity all walked in through the front door.

"Hey guys," stammered Twilight awkwardly, "what are you doing here?"

"Actually, we're here to talk to Spike," smiled Rarity, "may we talk to you for a few moments, Spike?" He looked up at Twilight with a confused expression across his face, then followed.

"Anything for you, Rarity," he swooned. Rarity blushed, embarrassed, and he followed the five friends into the garden. Twilight hung her head. She knew that she needed to do her work for Princess Celestia, but at the same time, how was she supposed to concentrate when everyone else apart from her was having fun?

"I should never have come here," she whimpered in a low voice, "I wonder what's taking them so long to talk to Spike?"

They returned a few hours later as the sun was descending towards the horizon.

"Where have you guys been?" Twilight looked surprised.

"We just went to finish our sandcastle," chattered Rarity, "Spike finished your part so you don't have to worry. We wanted to make sure you had peace to study."

"Oh…that was kind of you guys," uttered Twilight, "thank you."

"No problem, Twilight!" hollered Pinkie Pie, "who wants me to make them some hot chocolate?" A chorus of agreement buzzed around the room.

As the night went on, Twilight began to wish she was downstairs with her friends instead of upstairs, reading. She looked at her book. The words were right there in front of her face, but none of them would stick in her head.

"I guess five minutes wouldn't hurt," she mused to herself. She went downstairs to see her friends sitting around the television with mugs of hot drinks and a big bowl of popcorn to share.

"Twilight!" yelled Pinkie Pie excitedly when she spotted her on the staircase, "Come on down! Do you want me to make you hot cocoa? Hot chocolate? Tea? Coffee?!"

"As you can see, we're preventing Pinkie Pie from having coffee from now on," grunted Applejack in an annoyed tone, "you coming down to watch a movie with us?"

"Well, I have studied all through this evening, so I guess I could watch a movie with you guys," she replied.

"Yay Twilight!" cheered Pinkie Pie, "so, how 'bout that drink?"

"I'll have a hot chocolate please Pinkie Pie," Twilight giggled.

"Coming right up!"

The girls stayed up for a few hours that night. They watched movies, gave each other makeovers, played games, told stories: just like a slumber party! Spike had decided he was too tired to stay up, so declined the girls' offer to stay with them. Truthfully, Spike just could not be bothered joining in with their girly activities. Eventually, it was really late, and everypony was tired, so they decided to make their way off to bed, but it was a bit of a struggle trying to fit 6 ponies around one bathroom sink!

"Pinkie, I can't see past your mane!" hissed Rarity.

"I can't help it!" she yowled, "Rainbow keeps pushing me!"

"Girls, please, stop fighting!" whispered Twilight, "you'll wake up Spike. Let's take it in turns. Fluttershy can go first, then Pinkie Pie, then Rainbow, then Applejack and then Rarity because I know she likes to do her nightly beauty regimen which takes a while. I'll go last."

"Thank you, Twilight," peeped Fluttershy, "but I really don't mind when I go. You guys can go before me."

"It's alright, Fluttershy," grinned Pinkie Pie, "seriously, you go first." Before she could even step up to the sink, Rainbow Dash had zoomed in front of the group.

"Fine! I'll go first!" she sneered.

"Hey, no cutting in line!" scolded Pinkie Pie.

"Ugh, forget it, I'll just go to bed," huffed Twilight Sparkle. The girls all turned to look at Twilight. They could see something was still bothering their friend. The ponies all turned to look at one another.

"You know, I think Fluttershy should go first for definite," hinted Rainbow.

"Thank you, Rainbow," she beamed. Each of the girls took their turns in front of the mirror at the sink as quickly as possible for Twilight. Finally they were all finished, and all crawled into bed.

Approximately an hour later, when most of the ponies were sleeping, Fluttershy was up and standing by Twilight's bed.

"Twilight. Twilight…" she hissed quietly as she nudged Twilight's shoulder with her hoof.

"Flutter…*yawn*…shy…what are you doing up?" she yawned.

"I…I can't sleep," she stumbled her words, "I miss home. I miss Angel. I thought I'd ask you what I should do because…well, you're the most sensible and you've been the nicest to me on this trip."

"Oh, Fluttershy, that's a shame, but there's no way any of us can go home at this time of night. I really don't know what to tell you. Do you want me to put our beds together so you know you're not alone when you're trying to sleep?"

"Uh, okay, I guess that might help." The two ponies tried to quietly move Fluttershy's bed towards Twilight's - unfortunately not quietly enough.

"What in the world are you two doing at this hour?" growled Rarity, "you woke me up!" The girls explained what was going on. Pretty soon, the entire room was awake, and all six beds were moved into the centre of the room. Spike took his sleeping bag and placed it on the large bed next to Rarity.

"Okay, _now _can we go to sleep?" droned Rainbow.

"Is everyone comfortable enough?" asked Twilight.

"As comfy as I'll ever be!" Rarity said unconvincingly.

"I feel much better now," smiled Fluttershy, snuggling her teddy bear.

"Ok, glad to hear it. Good night everyone," yawned Twilight.

"Good night, Rarity!" grinned Spike as he lay down next to her.

"Uh…night!" she whispered quickly and shyly. The seven friends all slunk down into the large, cosy bed and fell fast asleep.

The next morning, they all awoke to the sound of the tourist ponies on the beach having fun. A bedraggled Rainbow sat up in bed.

"Ughh," she yawned, "what time is it?"

"More importantly, what time did we fall asleep last night?" said Twilight.

"Oh, I need another hour's worth of beauty sleep!" scoffed Rarity, flopping back down onto the bed and sliding her eye mask back over her eyes. The six others sat up and dropped out of bed. The five ponies went down stairs while Spike tidied up the bathroom.

"So, what should we do today?" sighed Pinkie Pie, stifling a yawn.

"How about visiting all the nice little shops around the town?" Fluttershy said softly.

"Good idea!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, who was all of a sudden wide awake.

"Sorry guys, I would join you, but I really have to study," frowned Twilight.

"But Twilight, you did so much work yesterday evening! Please come with us?" pleaded Applejack.

"Sorry guys, but my mind is made up. I've fallen behind a little after spending that time on the beach yesterday and would like to catch up on my work." Just then, there was a knock on the door. Twilight was shocked to see who was there when she answered it.

"Princess Celestia!" she gasped, as they all bowed to their beloved princess, "what are you doing here?"

"I'm on vacation!" she chuckled, "and I heard my top student was here too. I also heard that she is not having much fun."

"What? Who told you that?" She turned to look at the others, who were all whistling nonchalantly.

"Your friends did, of course. They were worried that it felt like they were teasing you by bringing you here when you had so much work to do, so Spike sent me a letter asking what to do, and as I was here, I thought I should visit you personally."

"Wow, thanks, Celestia, but I'm ok, I promise I'll get my work done for you."

"I'm sure you will, in good time. I have a new assignment to give you that takes priority."

"Oh?"

"Yes, I want you to enjoy being on vacation with your friends. Learn what happens when you go on vacation; try different activities and foods; relax on the beach and enjoy the sun and spend quality time with your friends. Most importantly - have fun! You deserve to have some pleasure on vacation. Do you remember what I first told you when I sent you to Ponyville?"

"Yes, that 'there is more to a young pony's life than studying'. Ohhh…" realised Twilight.

"Yes, and besides, you are supposed to be studying friendship. This is a fantastic opportunity to examine friendships in close quarters over a prolonged period, and another rule - no reading your study books, only read for fun when sunbathing or telling stories!"

"Okay, Princess Celestia, I will!"

"Good. Take care, my precious ponies." She glided out the door.

"She's right, you know," said Applejack, "this will be much better for you than staying cooped up in here reading dusty old books."

"Hey, I may not want to study right now, but I still love my 'dusty old books'!" she giggled, "but everyone is right. I have been so stressed and so conflicted recently that I feel I can neither work nor play. You guys are the best friends a pony could have! Thank you for everything."

"Aww, you're welcome!" cheered Pinkie Pie. Just then, Rarity came downstairs.

"What's all the commotion?" inquired Rarity.

"Twilight's been given a new mission!" babbled Pinkie Pie, "Tell her, Twilight. Tell her, tell her, tell her!"

"Okay, I will! Calm down, Pinkie!" laughed Twilight, "Princess Celestia dropped by. I know you guys sent her a message about how I was feeling. She wants me to stop worrying about my books and spend time having fun with you guys. She says it'll benefit me more than reading."

"Soooo…you _can _hang out with us today?"

"Uh-huh."

"Yippee!" Rarity jumped over and hugged Twilight. The rest of the girls followed. Spike came downstairs, surprised to see the girls all hugging and grinning from ear to ear.

"So, I guess Princess Celestia told you why we were out so long yesterday afternoon?" he guessed.

"Yep. Finally, I can put down my books and have fun!"

"Hooray!" cried Spike, rushing over and joining the group hug.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go have a ball!" They all cheered.

Their vacation was a success. They went parasailing, sunbathed, went surfing, looked at sea creatures in rock pools, bought plenty of souvenirs, ate ice cream sundaes, had fun at the fair on pier, tried lots of the local cuisine and even had a beach party (fabulously arranged by Pinkie Pie, of course), had a ton of fun, and Twilight made sure to let Princess Celestia know all about it:

Dear Princess Celestia,

I have learned one of the most valuable lessons in friendship this week. It is important to work hard to achieve your goal, but it is equally as important to make sure you take a break every once in a while and relax with your friends. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have even considered going on vacation, but they are such good friends I couldn't let them down, and I am glad I didn't. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to spend some time with my friends, it was the best week of my life!

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle.

Celestia smiled as she read the final line, knowing that her favourite student had the time of her life, and all because of her friends.

"Mission accomplished," purred Celestia to herself.

THE END


	3. Over the Rainbow

**My Little Pony - Over the Rainbow**

Applejack was in the kitchen of the farmhouse at Sweet Apple Acres, setting out breakfast for the family. Outside, the world seemed silent, as if they were the only ponies in all of Equestria. The snow from the night before covered the ground in a sparkling white layer of powder, making everything seem light and shiny. Just as she was about to serve some pancakes, the doorbell rang.

"Granny?" she called from the kitchen but there was no reply. "Apple Bloom?" Silence, once again. "Big Mac?" She sighed, wiped her hooves on her apron and trudged to the door.

"Good moooorning Applejack!" cheered Pinkie from the porch.

"Pinkie, what are you doing here so early?" asked Applejack.

"I came to see if you wanted to come play in the snow with us! Rainbow Dash just got a snowmobile and - "

"Sorry to interrupt, Pinkie, but I got some stuff to do for the family today."

"Oh, okay. Well, see you later!" Pinkie bounded off down the front path, and Applejack sighed once more, then closed the door. When she returned to the kitchen, Granny Smith, Apple Bloom and Big McIntosh were all sitting around the table.

"Mornin', everypony," she mumbled. The three just hummed a slight grunt back at her. She knew they did not want to make her feel bad on today especially, but their lack of response made Applejack feel like she had reminded a gang of prisoners that they were to be executed that day.

"Now come on, we can't be like this every year," she said, trying to stay strong.

"I know," Apple Bloom whimpered almost silently, "it just doesn't get any easier, like I was told it would."

"It never gets easier. No matter what anyone tells you, it never goes away."

"Yup," heaved Big McIntosh, still staring into a bowl of porridge and apple sauce.

"Granny?" asked Applejack, "you want some pancakes?" Granny Smith just looked up and nodded sadly, not saying a single word. How could she, when her eldest granddaughter was standing doing what she was supposed to be doing, but she just could not move a muscle? Just then, there was another loud knock at the door of the farmhouse.

"That'll be the mail man," sighed Applejack, who lifted off her messy apron and slumped her way to the door. When she opened it, she jumped back, astounded to see who was there.

"Applejack!" cried Pinkie, throwing her arms around her friend, "You said you had a lot of work to do for your family, so we decided to come and help you!" Standing on her front porch was Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity and Twilight, while standing on the ground behind them were Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, who had come to see if Apple Bloom wanted to join them, as Scootaloo had a new sledge and wanted to try it out on some nearby hills.

"T-that's mighty kind of ya, but I'm afraid it's not the sort of thing I think you guys would be able to help with," stammered Applejack, "Thanks for the offer, but we're just gonna get on with us ourselves."

"But you don't have to!" protested Twilight, "Can you at least tell us what it is and we can see if there is any way at all we can help you?" Applejack closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to fight back tears. She closed the door over slightly to ensure that the others in the kitchen could not hear her.

"Today is…" she started, "It's the anniversary of my parents' death." The group of ponies all gasped in shock.

"Applejack!" gasped Twilight, "I'm so sorry, I-I never knew!"

"It's okay, guys. It's just that this day is hard for us every year. I can't quite face going out right now, given the circumstances."

"Well, can we come in for a moment?" Fluttershy whispered quietly.

"I guess so. I'm certainly not doing anything today." The group followed Applejack's gesture and wandered in to the farmhouse.

"What do you mean, you're not doing anything today?" asked Rainbow Dash, confused, "I thought you had things to do for your family."

"Basically," she heaved, "it means we're staying home and in separate rooms, because it's just too tough to see each other, as it just reminds us of what happened."

"What did happen?" Pinkie's voice squeaked from the back of the group.

"Pinkie!" scorned Rarity, "Didn't you hear Applejack? She does _not_ want to talk about it."

"No, it's okay, Rarity," she said, surprisingly, "I've known all of you for a long time. I guess there should be no secrets between friends." She motioned everyone to sit down. Big McIntosh and Apple Bloom stood in the doorway, listening. Granny Smith, however, stayed at the table, just staring at the clock on the wall.

"It was only a year after Apple Bloom was born that they died," she began, "Big Mac and I were still only young too. You see, it was winter. Big Mac and I had taken Apple Bloom out to play in the snow on our own. We were building snowponies, making snow alicorns, throwing snowballs, you know, all that kind of fun you have in the snow when you're a kid." The other ponies were listening intently, nodding every few minutes.

"Well, we had never been ice skating before, so we took Apple Bloom out to a lake outside of Ponyville to play. The three of us held hooves and skated with Apple Bloom in the middle. What we didn't know was that the ice wasn't thick enough to hold the weight of all three of us. Mom and Dad looked out of their window and saw we weren't there, and panicked, so they ran off to look for us. We had been on the pond for about an hour when we saw a crack in it. We tried to avoid it, but it kept getting bigger and eventually turned into a hole. Big Mac and I knew it was too dangerous, so went off into town to see the lights being put up." The other ponies looked a little confused.

"Then Ma and Pa caught up to Granny, who said she'd seen us skating at the lake, so the rushed off to it and saw the hole in the ice."

"They thought you fell in?" It was more of a statement than an answer coming from Twilight, but Applejack nodded nonetheless.

"Yep. So…" She took a deep breath. "They panicked. Pa dived in first, but didn't come to the surface within a few minutes, so Ma jumped in after him."

"They got caught…under the ice," Big McIntosh mumbled from the doorway. This was the first time he had spoken since the group entered the house, and Big Mac was a pony of few words anyway, which surprised everypony a little, considering how he had just joined the conversation like that. He wandered in and sat down next to his sister.

"Granny was in town, when she saw us, grabbed us both and stuck us into a nearby cart, ordered the driver to take us to the lake and sped off. When we got to the lake, there was no one there. She then told him to take us to the farmhouse, and directed him on the route they would have taken. We didn't see them. The three of us still didn't know what was going on." Big Mac was fighting back tears, something which the ponies hadn't seen in him before.

"It wasn't until Granny got us to the house and called the Fire Brigade that she told us," strained Applejack, "We stayed in the house and Granny looked after us until someone came to the door. We thought it was our parents, but it was a fire pony. She asked Granny to put us in another room while she spoke with her. Naturally, as kids, we sat at the top of the stairs listening in on every word."

"That's when we heard that our parents didn't make it," Big Mac sighed, "and it was all my fault."

"Stop saying that!" screamed Applejack, who stood up in protest.

"I'm the oldest! I should have known better!"

"People skated on that lake all the time and still do, and we had never heard of anyone falling in. We did nothing wrong, it was just a series of events that didn't go to plan. It is no one's fault, Mac." She sat her hoof on his shoulder. Just then, Apple Bloom ran in, climbed up onto the couch between them and buried her head between their arms.

"I don't want to hear any more!" her muffled sobs came from under their arms.

"Honey, I know. That's why every year we stay here."

"But…" Rainbow Dash bit her lip, "don't you think talking about it would help?"

"I must admit, telling you guys made me feel a bit better just there," Applejack supposed, "There's not much else to tell. After that, Granny brought us up. We went to the funeral, but only Granny got to see them before because we were too young. I just hope that they can still see us and watch over us, and that in the end, they're the ones who'll take me over."

"Over where?" sniffed Apple Bloom, wiping a tear away with her hoof.

"To the other side."

"What do you mean?" Scootaloo questioned her.

"When you, you know…die. When you pass over."

"You mean when you go to heaven."

"IF it exists," Rainbow Dash said sternly.

"Whaddya mean, 'if'? Of course it exists!" giggled Sweetie Belle.

"Well, how come we can't see them?"

"Because souls are invisible to living beings," explained Twilight. Applejack nodded in agreement.

"It's true. Granny used to take us to church…until Big Mac and I started asking too many questions about contradictions and got kicked out of Sunday School," chuckled Applejack, who was beginning to ease up.

"Yup!" smiled Big Mac, remembering the fun he and his sister had had when they were young ponies.

"So, if souls are invisible, and the Earth is billions of years old, doesn't that mean there could be billions of souls in one place?" asked Rainbow.

"That depends," said Twilight, "The population of Earth was not the same even a hundred years ago. The population is growing exponentially, meaning it constantly increases. Plus, ponies did not populate the entire of the Earth and still don't even today, so it's possible that only a few generations of spirits could exist in Equestria."

"You all believe in spirits?" Rarity asked sheepishly.

"Don't you?"

"Well…I suppose. I was always taught that death was the end, and after that your body was in the ground and that was it." On hearing this, Apple Bloom buried her head back into her brother's arms.

"But then what happens?" asked Applejack, "I mean, does your life just become darkness, or is it like sitting in a movie theatre, watching your life as you saw it through your eyes over and over again forever?"

"I was always taught about reincarnation," Fluttershy said softly.

"What's that?" asked a confused Sweetie Belle.

"It's when your soul travels into another body that is born after you die. You could be a pony in your first life, then come back as a bear, or a dragon, or a butterfly, or a bunny, or a griffin, or even another pony. I hope I come back as a bunny so Angel and I can do more things together!"

"I don't want to be anyone else," grumbled Scootaloo, "I like me too much." The ponies all laughed.

"You're all wrong!" laughed Pinkie.

"Excuse me, Pinkie?!" shrieked Applejack.

"I'm sorry, but I know what happens. Really. One day, my Pinkie-Sense didn't work. I was in my bedroom, when all of a sudden Rainbow Dash flew in the window, knocked me over into my wardrobe, knocking my bowling ball off the top and onto my head and then I hit my head on the floor."

"Oh yeah!" Rainbow Dash remembered, "Why did you have that bowling ball anyway?"

"For my bowling class, silly!" Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Anyway, when that happened, I blacked out. After a few seconds I could see this bunch of balloons in front of me, and you guys know how much I love balloons! So I grabbed it, and it started to lift me into the air. I went through the ceiling, then the roof, above the clouds, until I couldn't see anything below me. I was so high up, but I wasn't scared. Then the balloons stopped taking me up and started moving forward, until I came to this platform being held up by…well, nothing. The platform was attached to this bridge, which had flags and streamers and bunting and balloons all over it, and it had a rainbow polka-dot wall and a rainbow brick pattern on the ground. I couldn't see ahead of me, but it looked friendly enough, so I hopped along until I came to this massive archway. It looked similar to the bridge, but on the other side were lots of ponies in the most beautiful garden I had ever seen, and the garden led to a massive rainbow castle that spouted rainbows and confetti from its turrets."

"Huh?" Twilight looked at her, bewildered.

"_Then_ I saw Great-Granny-Pie. I knew it was her, because she moseyed over to me and gave me two bits and some ribbon candy, just like she always did. Only thing was, she passed away five years before, so I couldn't understand why she was there. She smiled at me as I ate the candy, gave me a hug and kissed me on the forehead. She then took me back across the bridge. The balloons were still there, so she told me to grab them. Then all she said was 'See you some day, Pinkamina', smiled at me, then pushed me off the plinth. I started screaming, even though the balloons were keeping me from freefalling. Then I woke up with Rainbow Dash crouched over me asking me if I was all right, and saying 'Oh please wake up, Pinkie!' over and over."

"So…you think you saw heaven?" said Applejack.

"I don't know what I saw. All I know was I had a near-death experience, and saw the place we go when we die. My Pinkie sense told me one thing and that was where I truly was. People we love must wait for us in the garden to meet us when they hear we are coming to see them, so that we know even though life is over, it's okay, because we are still with the people we love and can watch over those still there."

"So, what you're saying is when you die, your soul sees the balloons, and knows instinctively to grab them, and when you do, you start to float up to the rainbow bridge, over which is an archway that leads you to heaven, where those you love who died before you are waiting?" asked Twilight. Pinkie nodded.

"That…actually sounds really nice, Pinkie," smiled Applejack, "even if it's the end of somepony's life, it's comforting to think that they can see us still by crossing the bridge, even though they can't be with us, and that we get to meet them again when our lives end."

"But what if you're bad?" whimpered Apple Bloom, "Sunday School teacher used to tell us if we were bad we wouldn't go to heaven."

"Well…I don't know," said Pinkie, "but what I'm certain of is that there is nopony _very_ bad there. There are people who play pranks and are naughty there, but no _truly_ bad creatures."

"I won't make it there then," sighed Big Mac.

"What are you talking about?" shrieked Pinkie, "How could you not be there?"

"It's my fault that…"

"Stop saying that it's your fault!" yelled a voice from the kitchen. Granny Smith hobbled into the living room and stood over her grandson.

"Now you listen to me, young Mac. What happened was an accident, it was no one's fault. Yes, you could have told your parents where you were going. No, you shouldn't have been playing on the lake alone. But your Ma and Pa did what they thought was right. They didn't care that you ran off or played somewhere they didn't want ya to: all they wanted to know was that all of ya were safe. That's why they did it. I told them that's where I last saw youse, if anything, it's my fault."

"No, Granny!" yelled Apple Bloom, jumping off the couch and running into her arms.

"It's nopony's fault…" muttered Big Mac quietly.

"It's _nopony's _fault," Granny Smith reassured him, sitting down on the other side of him from Applejack and putting her hoof on his other shoulder.

"Granny…" Applejack sobbed, her bottom lip trembling, "that's the first time you've ever said a word about…"

"About that day?" She nodded. "I never wanted to upset you three, so thought that what we had done for the past few years was the right thing to do. I never realised that after all these years, letting go of everything I had bitten my tongue about for all those years would make me and you kids feel…better." She looked up and smiled, then looked down to Apple Bloom, whose head was still tucked into her side.

"Tell me, honey, what do you remember about that day?"

"Granny, don't she's too young to - " Granny Smith raised her hoof and cut Applejack off.

"Well," Apple Bloom began, wiping her nose, "I remember the fun we had that morning, playing in the snow, 'cause it was the first time I played in it. I remember us going into town, Granny showing up and taking us home, then the last thing I remember is Applejack and Big Mac cryin' on the stairs and I couldn't figure out why…and then I kept asking Granny where Mom and Dad were and she just told me she didn't know, and then I asked when they were coming home, and she just looked at me and said 'I don't think they's comin' home, sweet-pea' and I started cryin' too." She looked over to her brother and sister. "I didn't know what was going to happen. Who was going to brush my hair, tuck me in and make me apple fritters when I'm sick? Who was going to plant the apple seeds and do apple buckin' and plough the fields? If it hadn't been for Granny and Applejack and Big McIntosh…well, I don't even know what woulda happened. I thought I was going to be alone after that, and that I'd never see any of my family ever again. If we hadn't all pulled together like we did, I wouldn't have an amazing life like the one I have now."

"It's true," agreed Applejack, "and you know something? It's coming together like we have now that makes this family better. From now on, on this day each year we won't hide away from each other, but spend time together as a family, remembering everything good that ever happened while Ma and Pa were still here, and even the good things that have happened to us after. They wouldn't have wanted us to be sittin' around cryin' about them not being here, they would want to know that we were happy and having a good life!" They all nodded in agreement.

"We'd best leave you to it," Twilight smiled softly.

"Thanks guys," said Applejack tearfully, "for everything." They all crowded around their friend and group hugged, then quietly left the Apple family to themselves.

The family spent the rest of the day looking at the old pictures of their parents in the old photo albums, remembering all the wonderful memories they had made together.

"When was this one?" asked Apple Bloom, pointing to a photograph. Granny Smith squinted and looked closer.

"That," she began, with a slight sadness in her voice, "is the last photograph of your parents. It was taken the day before, you know." The picture was of Applejack, Big McIntosh and Apple Bloom when they were younger, with their parents and Granny Smith. They were all standing at the door of the farmhouse, dressed in warm winter clothes and huddling together for the camera.

"Oh," Apple Bloom looked up at her grandmother. She could see that this was taking its toll on her emotionally, "Granny, are you okay?" Granny Smith sighed, then turned to Apple Bloom.

"I'm all right, sweet-pea," she said, "it's just difficult, ya know, thinkin' about your Momma, and how much I miss her. A mother should never outlive her daughter. It's the little things, ya know? I loved bringing you kids up and seeing you grow up, but I'm upset that she's missed out on all that."

"Well, maybe she hasn't. Maybe Pinkie was right, and if Momma and Daddy can still see us, then they didn't miss out on us growing up."

"I hope you're right, honey-pie." The four of them hugged together on the sofa.

"All right, I reckon that's time for bed for you young 'uns," said Granny Smith. The three young ponies tiptoed up the staircase, while Granny Smith stayed sitting on the sofa, still holding onto the photo album.

"Granny?" whispered Applejack, "You okay?"

"I'm fine, sugarplum," she smiled, "Don't worry, I'll be up in a minute." Applejack went back up the stairs to tuck Apple Bloom in. Once she was out of sight, Granny Smith sighed heavily and looked out the window at the clear night sky.

"I hope you can see this, honey," she whispered, "I just hope you know how great you kids are." She took the photo of her daughter out of the photo album, kissed it gently, then sat the picture down on top of the book. She smiled gently at it, then turned out the light.

"Good night, honey," she whispered into the darkness.


	4. A Dash Through time

**My Little Pony - A Dash Through Time**

Rainbow Dash hurried towards Sugarcube Corner. The storm clouds were a sign of trouble brewing, and she knew neither she nor any of the other pegasi could stop it.

"Pinkie Pie!" she hollered, "Please let me in! It's wild out here!"

"Hi!" chirped Pinkie Pie, popping her head out the door.

"Lemme in! Hurry up!"

"Oh, okay!" The two hurried inside. Oddly enough, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity were all huddled together inside.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Rainbow.

"Same as you. We got caught outside in this dreadful storm and the nearest building was here," whimpered Rarity, "oh, I do hope my house and shop don't suffer any damage!"

"I'm just worried about the animals," whispered Fluttershy, "what if they get hurt? I couldn't bear to think of it." Rainbow sat down next to her friends. Mr Carrot Cake trotted in carrying his twin baby foals, Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake on his back, bawling their eyes out.

"Some storm, eh?" he sighed, "the twins can't sleep, so I guess if this turns into a sleepover they'll be joining us."

"Allow me, sir," breathed Fluttershy silkily. She followed Mr Carrot Cake up to the twins bedroom

"Now, there is nothing to worry about, the storm will pass and you'll wake up to see the lovely sunshine from your bedroom window in the morning," she cooed, "time for Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake to go to sleep." She began singing a lullaby whilst stroking their heads, and the twins' eyes began to close.

"You're amazing, Fluttershy," whispered Mr Carrot Cake.

"I just know how to talk calmly and reassure babies." The two came down stairs to join the others.

"Whoo-ee! Look at that wind fly!" hooted Applejack, closing the shutters. Rainbow glanced out the crack in the shutters. At the centre of the storm, she was sure she could see a large blue object swirling around, surrounded by lightning bolts.

"Huh?" she mused, "I wonder what that could be." She then noticed two ponies standing directly below it.

"Holy Pony! There's still somepony out there!" She swung open the door and raced to the two of them. It was Time Turner and Derpy.

"What are you two doing out here? Are you crazy?"

"Rainbow Dash! Go back inside, it's too dangerous," yelled Time Turner.

"I know, that's why you two should come too!"

"It's okay," shouted Derpy, "we'll be all right." Rainbow stared at the two, puzzled as to what they meant.

"Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie called out from the door of the bakery, "you've got to come back inside!"

"What? Back in time?" she howled.

"INSIDE!" Rainbow was frozen to the spot. She glared up to the clouds, where the blue object she was sure she had seen earlier was hurtling towards her. Her mouth fell wide open, while her friends looked on in disbelief. The blue object landed at her feet. Suddenly, the storm stopped.

"What the heck was that?!" she screamed at Time Turner and Derpy.

"It's nothing, just, take care, Rainbow Dash. I'm glad to see you've turned out to be a fine young woman."

"What are you talking about?"

"Just trust us," sighed Derpy, "we know what we're talking about."

"Can I see into your box?" She gazed up at it in amazement. The box was navy blue, with a lantern on top, two white and blue panelled windows, double doors at the front with a tiny door on one, and a sign that read "Police Telephone - Free for use of PUBLIC. Advice and assistance obtainable immediately, officers and cars respond to urgent calls." The box reminded her of something - almost like a dream. She'd certainly never seen one in Equestria!

"Uhh…well…" mumbled Time Turner, "you'd probably better not, it's not a good…" It was too late, Rainbow had barged past them and opened the door. Inside shocked her. It was huge! She dived in and out the door.

"It's bigger on the inside!" she yelped. Inside was decorated with bronzed bubble-like circles on the walls, and some sort of controls in the centre. It was what was on the screen above the console that amazed her. It showed a picture of her, and information about everything she had ever done in her life.

"Who the hell are you two?" she demanded, turning back to Derpy and Time Turner.

"Uhh…well…we're…um…" stuttered Derpy.

"I guess I should explain. My real name is not Time Turner. My real name is Dr Whooves, and this is my TARDIS. It means Time And Relative Dimension In Space. This box, this wonderful blue box…can travel through time." He rested his hoof on Derpy's shoulder, "which is how the two of us became stranded here for the last four years."

"Well, I'm confused! If you can travel through time, prove it to me," huffed Rainbow, folding her arms.

"I wish I could, but it isn't safe. You could end up stranded just like your mother and me - " Rainbow cut him off.

"Wait, what?! You're my parents?!" Derpy bit her lip.

"I guess there's no point in trying to lie about it anymore, you have to learn the truth sometime. Yes, sweetheart. We're your parents."

"So this is where you've been all my life…"

"When I met the Doctor, I was young and in love. He asked me to come away with him, so…I did exactly that! We spent many happy years in the TARDIS, going on adventures, meeting many different characters. Then one day, we got married under the purple moon of a planet known as Mantle Five. Then came the time when we talked about settling down…"

"And?" Rainbow looked hopefully at her mother.

"Well, that's when you came along, you and your sister, and we were thrilled to be a family. The only thing was, settling down would mean no more TARDIS, no more time travel, no more adventures. That was until we decided to take you on your first adventure…"

"Oh?"

"We packed everything and planned on taking you with us to see your future, to find out what kind of young woman you'd become. Only problem was, we ended up way in the past on your father's home planet. The Time War was raging on, and there was nothing we could do to stop it. The Cybercolts and Dragleks formed an alliance merely to defeat the Gallopfreyans. That's where your father is from. We hurried back to the TARDIS with you both in my arms, but we were accosted by a Zygoat. He snatched you both from our arms and raced away. As he ran off, you both cried, causing Pinkie's hair to straighten from your lovely curls to a dull mane. I screamed, and your father and I chased after him, but it was too late, they made off in their ship. The Zygoat gang had kidnapped you as a warning to the Gallopfreyans. Your father and I were never going to stop looking for you. We travelled all over time and space looking for you, and here you are! A beautiful, confident, athletic, healthy young woman, on her way to becoming as good as a Wonderbolt, if not better! We have no idea what happened in between the day you went missing and when we arrived here four years ago, but we're glad you're alive."

"Wait, I have a sister?!" gasped Rainbow. Her father nodded. "There's one thing I don't get," Rainbow shook her head in confusion, "if you guys have been here for four years, how come you never told me?"

"Your life was confusing enough. You were a teenager, that's when life is most confusing, and we could see you were handling it well without us. Telling you would have mixed you up so bad, so we watched you from a distance. We've seen everything: meeting Twilight; your Sonic Rainboom; the day you went to the Grand Galloping Gala and many more. We just needed to know you were safe, honey. The only thing was, once arrived in Ponyville and we knew you were alive and well, the TARDIS took off without us! We reckon that - because the TARDIS is a live, sentient being - she left us here so that this fixed point in time could happen, so that we could be with you. We were stranded here; terrified that you would recognise us; hence the reason we disguised ourselves. The Doctor took the name Time Turner, and I changed the position of my eyes."

"Was that the reason when we were hanging the banner over Town Hall you kept falling over?"

"I was so nervous. This was the first interaction I had had with you since you were a few weeks old. I couldn't see right when I squinted, which is why half the time I wasn't squinting. I was desperate to tell you, but I knew it was wrong. I messed up hearing the first thing you said to me."

"No you didn't," said Rainbow with huge tears in her eyes, "Oh mom, I'm so sorry I got mad at you! If I'd have known, I'd never…"

"It wasn't your fault, sweetie," she breathed as she rested her head on Rainbow's shoulder, "I just wanted to talk to you, to see what kind of person you were up close. Your father was furious when he found out, though. He kept saying 'What were you thinking? How could you? You could have caused a hole In the Space-Time Continuum!', blah, blah, blah!"

"Honey, we'd better go," winced Dr Whooves. His wife looked at him in agonising desperation, her eyes watering.

"I…I can't," whimpered Derpy, "she's our little girl, I don't want to leave her. She's safe, she's alive, and she knows us. If we go back in time and find her, we could mess all that up. Don't you want to spend time getting to know her better? See the rest of her life, even though we've missed so much?"

"I do, but the time is not right. She's waited years to see us again, whereas for us it feels like five minutes. We should be in this time, older, seeing our little girl grow up."

"But we can now! And what does it matter that we're not as old as we should be? I want my daughters and I want to be with them, here and now. If you don't want to stay, you can just go. Besides, if it wasn't for you, she'd never have gone missing."

"Don't you think I know that! I've regretted that every day for the past five years. This could destroy all of space and time, all because of our selfishness - my selfishness. I'm the one who wanted to keep up with time travelling. I should have put the most important thing in my life first: my family, my wife, my daughters. But it's too late for that, and there's nothing I can do to change that."

"Well then, we should be making the most of the time we have with her now! Don't you see? This is our second chance, Doctor, a chance to know our daughter. We may not have raised her ourselves, but look at the Ponys. Amy and Rory never got to raise Melody, but she turned out all right."

"Melody Pony is a time-travelling master criminal!"

"But our daughter isn't! Don't you understand, we have a lot to learn about her. We can be a family again. Please, stay," begged Derpy, the tears in her eyes growing larger by the second.

"I…supposed we could stay a while. But this isn't permanent. Rainbow?"

"Daddy!" she bawled, running into his arms. Derpy joined them, laying her head on top of Rainbow's and her arms around them both. Just then, the other ponies who had watched the whole thing rushed over.

"Yay, Rainbow's mom and dad!" squeaked Pinkie, joining the group hug.

"Pink…Pinkie Pie?" stuttered Derpy through her tears.

"Yes…?"

"We kind of have something to tell you too…"

"What? Am I going to be a successful party planner in the future? Do I ever find my parents?"

"Yes you will - have. You see, Rainbow, your twin…is Pinkie Pie. The two of you must have been sent to different places, but the same point in time."

"We're…sisters?!" gasped Rainbow, "this…is…unbelievable!"

"Oh my god I've always wanted a twin sister like Rainbow Dash and now I have you I don't want to stop hugging you!" screeched Pinkie Pie without taking a breath. Derpy nodded at the two of them.

"Technically you have the same birthday, something I'll bet you never really knew. Your adoptive parents probably had to guess your birthdays, which is why your current birthdays are different."

"Now we can have two birthdays each! One old birthday, one twin birthday!" cheered Pinkie Pie. Rainbow remained stalk still in shock.

"Well, honey? Would you be happy for us to stay?" smiled Derpy. Rainbow looked back and forth between her parents and Pinkie.

"I…uh…of course!" she gushed, "Oh, my family I never had!" The four all hugged each other tight. Her friends looked on.

"Aww, that's so sweet," sniffed Rarity. The four of them walked towards the group and each of them flung their arms around them. Spike jumped on Twilight's back.

"Hey Pinkie!" he shouted, "I think this calls for a party!"

"Yippee! A welcome home party!" she squealed, bounding up and down on the spot. The nine friends trotted into Sugarcube Corner. Fluttershy noticed that Applejack was welling up.

"Applejack?" she inquired, "what's wrong?" She put her hoof on Applejack's shoulder.

"Oh…it's nothing. I'm really happy for them, but this whole thing's just thinking about my parents," she sobbed, "I haven't seen them since I was a kid. They passed away, and that's why Granny Smith raised Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom and I." Derpy overheard them talking, and rested her hoof on Applejack's other shoulder.

"I'm sorry to hear that, honey," she whispered, "but I have something to thank you girls for. If it weren't for you, my girls wouldn't have had a family while we were gone. Without you, they might not have turned out the beautiful, well-balanced girls they are today." The three looked over a Pinkie Pie, who stumbled down the stairs, crashing on the floor and giggling.

"Well-balanced by our family's standards," she grinned awkwardly, "anyway, I'd like to extend the olive branch to all of you. You are my daughters' family, so that makes you my family. If ever you need anything, just come to your Aunt Derpy and Uncle Doc."

"We will," smiled Applejack, holding back tears.

"I know we'll never replace your parents, but we can be there for you."

"So…where have you been living all this time?" asked Rainbow Dash, trying not to pry, even though she had a million questions to ask them.

"Well, we have a place just outside Ponyville, near the Everfree Forest. We can see Fluttershy's house from our bedroom window, and since you two were always visiting her, we could see you."

"There's one thing I don't get," muttered Pinkie Pie, "how come I'm an Earth Pony and Rainbow is a Pegasus?"

"Well," explained Dr Whooves, "I'm an Earth Pony. Well, technically I'm a Gallopfreyan Pony, but that's beside the point, and your mother is a Pegasus. As you can probably tell, you're non-identical twins, and so don't share identical genetic codes. You must have my recessive genes: the blue eyes and no wings, while Rainbow has wings and pink eyes, like Derpy's mother."

"So how come our coats are pink and blue while you are brown and grey?"

"We believe it was the TARDIS. Your mother had been travelling in the TARDIS for such a long time even while she was pregnant, and I even longer, and the Time Vortex gives off a sort of background radiation. We believe that your mother and I had absorbed so much of it that it caused you two to gain colours from other ponies throughout the Time Vortex - possibly your ancestors. Don't worry, it's completely harmless, it merely indicated that you've travelled through the vortex." The two girls sat down beside their parents, grinning contentedly.

Twilight was looking at them suspiciously.

"Do you…do you believe them, Spike?" she whispered.

"Well, their stories check out. Why wouldn't I?" he replied.

"I don't know…it just seems weird that they've been here for four years and said nothing until now. You'd think that upon finding your daughters you'd run and tell them straight away."

"You heard them, they didn't want their daughters to be more confused as teenagers. Teenagers and adults act differently from each other; waiting until they were older meant they could handle the truth better."

"I just don't feel safe, Spike. I'm going to do some digging."

"Ooh! Can I come? My tail makes a good spade?" Twilight rolled her eyes and slinked out the door, followed by Spike. She sneaked over to her house, and began searching through the library.

"T…tadpoles, trolls, tricks - Spike, why aren't these in alphabetical order?" she groaned. Spike shook his head and mumbled something incoherantly with a mouthful of cake.

"Aha! Time Travel. Let's see…'It may be possible to travel through time, however, the timeline could be altered by travelling to the past. Travelling to the future may create set points in time that cannot be altered after they have happened.'"

"So, what can we do?" questioned Spike.

"Well…it is certainly possible to travel through time. I still feel like something's not right. Let's go to the Town Hall and check the records."

"Surely all they'll tell us is where they live?"

"The census could prove to us when they arrived here and if they have children. The children may not be registered at the same address, but could be registered as children of the people living there."

The two friends rushed out, closing the door behind them. When they arrived at Town Hall, all was not as easy as Twilight had thought it would be.

"What do you mean, I can't see the census?" she demanded, "It's supposed to be available for all citizens."

"I'm sorry, we're closing. Come back tomorrow," snipped the receptionist.

"But this will take just five minutes…"

"I'm sorry, but the answer is no!" Twilight hung her head, and Spike laid his hand on the back of her leg.

"Sorry, Twilight. I guess there's nothing we can do," he exhaled. She looked up with a defiant look on her face.

"I'm not giving up that easily." She waited outside until the receptionist exited and locked the door. Then, she placed an invisibility spell on herself and Spike. Twilight could see the key as the girl put it in her saddlebag. Using her unicorn power, she gently lifted the key from the bag and placed it softly into the lock. Once it was turned, the door opened, and she and Spike snuck in. Inside was a dark and vast library of documents all containing information about Ponyville and its citizens.

"Which section is it?" whispered Spike.

"Look under T for Turner. I think that's the name the Doctor will be registered under, then we can see if any birth certificates come with it." They rifled through the cabinets marked T.

"Here it is! Turner, first name Time. Birth certificate for Time Turner, marriage certificate for Time Turner and Derpy Doo, deeds to their house…no birth certificates for children. Why don't we try Rainbow and Pinkie's files?"

"Good idea." They could hear the security guard outside with his torch. They hid under the window as he shone it above their heads. Spike breathed fast, panicking. They looked at each other, terrified of being discovered without finding out the truth. Once he had passed, they whooshed over to the filing cabinets and began searching once more. Sadly, all they could find was adoption certificates, but nothing about birth parents.

"Come on," huffed Twilight dejectedly, "we'd better go back before they find out where we've been." She locked the front door, sliding the key under a rock when finished.

"Hey, where did you two go?" hooted Pinkie Pie, "you've missed some amazing stories!"

"Oh, just out. Pinkie, can I talk to you in private?" squinted Twilight.

"Sure!" The two girls hurried upstairs. "What's up?"

"Pinkie, I don't want you to get angry with me…"

"Why would I get - "

"Just listen. Are you sure these are your real parents? I mean, they could have made this up just because you two are the only orphans they knew of."

"What are you saying? My parents are fakes?!" Pinkie's face became unusually red and her face twisted into a grimace.

"I'm just looking out for you. What if they're trying to take advantage of your generous and trusting nature?"

"What is your problem? How could you say that? After all these years of searching, I've finally found my parents. Wouldn't you want that more than anything if it were you?"

"Yes, but that's no reason to believe it. You have to be sure, not just desperate to have your parents." The door creaked open.

"Twilight…you don't really think that about us, do you?" Derpy sounded hurt.

"Uh…well, I just can't find any evidence that it's true. If there was evidence I would know, but if not, you could be lying. I'm just worried for my friends."

"I understand. Wait here." Derpy was gone for five minutes, and when she came back she was holding four gold lockets.

"These," she hummed, "were yours, and the other two belonged to your father and I. When you were older, we were going to give you them. You were a bit too young at the time to wear them, although we do have a photo of you wearing them." Dr Whooves pulled something from his saddlebag.

"A Polaroid?" pondered Twilight, "but those haven't been around…for years…" He showed the girls the photograph. In it were two young fillies - a blue Pegasus with rainbow hair and a pink earth pony with pink curls - each wearing the little necklaces with a tiny sparkle in the centre of the pendant, held in their parents' arms - and sure enough, it was Derpy and the Doctor holding them.

"Open them." The girls each took one and opened the lockets. Inside was a pocket watch, a compass, and inserted into the photo frame was the same picture of their family. On the outer cover was the tiniest gem that sparkled and shone brightly.

"Those are specks of stars. We gave you these Gallopfreyan pendants so you would always find us, no matter where in the universe. Sadly, it was us that had to use the necklaces."

"I…I'm so sorry," sobbed Twilight, "I shouldn't have doubted you - oh please, forgive me!"

"Twilight, it is us that should be apologising to you. You were there for my girls, we were not. You were right, we should have done all this sooner. We were going to build up to it, show you our photos and see the photo albums from when my girls were young - seeing everything we'd missed." Pinkie and Rainbow examined the photo more closely. It had Dr Whooves and Derpy, looking as though they hadn't aged a day, holding the two baby ponies that were in the previous pictures, and the babies were too similar to Rainbow and Pinkie to not be them.

"So, there's no getting out of it now!" cheered Rainbow Dash, snuggling between her parents.

"Got that right!" squeaked Pinkie Pie as she joined them. Just then, Twilight had a brain wave. She asked Mr Carrot Cake if she could borrow the family camera for a minute. The four ponies were still standing together, hugging.

"Smile!" cried Twilight. The camera displayed the wonderful family photo. "That way, you have a then and now picture of your family!" They all crowded around her to look.

"Mr Cake?" smiled Derpy, sweetly, "May we borrow you for a moment?" Mr Carrot Cake took the camera. "All right! Everybody in!" This time all of the ponies (and Spike) bunched up together, smiling.

"_This _is our family photo. We're just the new members; this is the family you've known and loved for a long time."

"Well, you are most definitely welcome to our family," chuckled Twilight as Derpy hugged her. They all laughed. "So, are you going to stick around?"

"We actually have something to ask you two. You see, now that we have the TARDIS back, we can go anywhere we want in time and space. If you wanted…we could take you with us."

"We'd love to!" enthused Rainbow, "but…I can't leave my friends here in Ponyville. I've been here too long to leave. My place is here." Pinkie Pie nodded in agreement.

"In that case…it looks like your dad and I have our minds made up too." The two girls blinked at them, almost begging them not to go with merely their expressions.

"We should stick by our daughters," laughed Dr Whooves, "we're going to do what we should have done a long time ago - the right thing - retiring."

"You mean, you're staying?" pleaded Pinkie, beaming with excitement.

"Yep!"

"You guys don't need to retire because of us!" shouted Rainbow, flying just above their heads, "I mean…we could always use your, what's it called?"

"TARDIS?"

"Right! The TARDIS, if ever it was needed. You never know, Princess Celestia may give you a job using your TARDIS if you tell her!"

"Well, it beats sneaking around town trying to blend in! Your mother and I have been offered a job at the art gallery - we're the new curators!" They all chuckled heartily.

Later that night, the family were all downstairs sharing stories, when Twilight looked over and noticed the four Whooves' were fast asleep, cuddling into each other by the fire. She smiled sweetly, and went home to begin writing her letter to the princess:

Dear Princess Celestia,

Some days can turn your whole life upside down. In this instance, it turned out for the better! Pinkie and Rainbow have what they've been looking for all their lives: a real family. The lesson learned here for me is not to doubt the judgement of your friends, even if you are looking out for their best interests. People need to make their own mistakes to learn, even parents, or in Dr Whooves and Derpy's case, especially parents! I guess they learned their lesson a long time ago, at least it was a long time ago for us, for them, I don't really know. I guess that's the problem with time travel!

From your most devoted student,

Twilight Sparkle.

She looked over at the little photo frame on her bedside cabinet of her parents, then to her phone. Gingerly, she picked it up and began to dial.

"Hello…mom? I just wanted to talk with you…and tell you I love you."


	5. Big McIntosh's Big Question

**My Little Pony - Big McIntosh's Big Question**

Cheerilee sighed sweetly as she gazed at Big McIntosh from across the table, wondering how much of the love poison had really remained in her body. He smiled back at her, then sat his hoof on top of hers. Cheerilee and Big Mac had been hanging out to tease the Cutie Mark Crusaders into thinking that they were still afflicted by the love poison, but after a while they both came to realise that they really did care for each other. Pinkie Pie appeared beside them and served them their milkshakes.

"Thank you, Pinkie!" grinned Cheerilee.

"You're welcome!" she replied, "Soooo…what date number is this?"

"Twenty…nine?" She looked over at her boyfriend.

"Yup!" he said.

"Wow, almost thirty? You guys must be getting serious!" gasped Pinkie.

"Hehe…yup!" gulped Big Mac, hoping that she wouldn't ask that question.

"Soooo…are you guys _planning_ anything?" she enquired, moving over towards Big Mac and widening her eyes.

"Uh…uh…nope!"

"Not at the moment, sweetie," said Cheerilee, "it's a bit too early." Big Mac's heart sank. Too early? If it was too early, then when would it be the perfect time?

"Okay, enjoy your milkshakes!" Pinkie bounded off inside Sugarcube Corner to serve another customer. Big Mac grinned awkwardly at Cheerilee.

That night, as he walked his girlfriend home, Big Mac noticed how lovely she looked in the silver moonlight, how her eyes sparkled like a pair of large, round emeralds. Right now would be a perfect moment to ask her, he thought. As they approached her front porch, they stopped and turned to face each other.

"This was a lovely evening," she sighed gently.

"Yup! Sure was!" Big Mac chuckled. They both leaned in and kissed each other.

"Good night, sweetie," she smiled.

"Good night!" he called as he made his way down the path.

Once he was back at Sweet Apple Acres, he slipped quietly through the front door of the farmhouse, tiptoed upstairs and sneaked into his room. All of a sudden, the light flashed on.

"And just what time do you call this?!" shrieked Apple Bloom.

"Uh…uh…" he stammered. She must have shouted loud enough for the entire farm to hear, because Applejack came rushing in.

"Apple Bloom!" she gasped, "what in tarnation are you doing awake at this hour?!"

"I wanna know what took my big brother so long to come home tonight!" she said defiantly.

"I was out with Cheerilee," he mumbled.

"_Again_?! How many times has it been this week?"

"Only three…"

"What?!"

"Apple Bloom, you'd better hush up or else you'll wake up Granny Smith!" hissed Applejack, "Now, will you please go to bed so we can all get some sleep?"

"Fine," she grunted, "and for the record: nothing could wake up Granny Smith at this hour, she's a far too deep sleeper!" As she left the room she shot a look of suspicion at her brother, then slammed the door.

"She's just a little antsy because you're still dating her teacher," said Applejack, "she'll get used to it eventually, you know."

"She'll have to, someday," he muttered cryptically.

"Huh?" He opened up the drawer on his bedside table. Inside was a small navy blue box, which he handed to his sister.

"Open it." She sat down beside him on his bed and gingerly began to creak open the lid. Inside was a gold ring with a green gem set in the centre of it.

"Oh my gosh," she gasped, "you're going to…to…"

"Propose?"

"Oh my. This ring is so gorgeous, she'll have to say yes!"

"I'm not so sure." He downheartedly slumped down onto his bed.

"Why's that, Sugarcube?"

"Pinkie Pie asked us today if we were planning anything, but when we told her we weren't, Cheerilee said it's too early for us to be considering anything serious."

"Oh, Mac. You're really head over heels with your gal, ain't ya?" He nodded and sighed.

"Maybe give it some time, you never know, she might come around."

"I hope so…" She put her arm over his shoulder, and gave him a sisterly hug, then stood up to leave.

"Don't you worry," she whispered from the doorway, "it'll all work out eventually." She left and gently closed the door. Big Mac sat looking at the ring in the box for a few seconds with a defeated expression on his face, then closed it over and sat it back in his drawer. But will it? He wondered. He slunk into his bed and switched off his lamp, knowing that he'd have to convince his girlfriend to say yes.

The next day, Big Mac was trudging around the farm looking a little depressed as he lifted the bales of hay into his cart. Apple Bloom had noticed that he wasn't himself that day, and she and her friends decided to try to cheer him up.

"Big Mac!" she hollered as she bounded across the field, "Whatcha doin'?"

"Just collecting these hay bales," he sighed, "why?"

"We're bored," moaned Sweetie Belle, "can you come play with us?"

"'Fraid not, I got a lotta work to do." Just then, Applejack appeared behind them.

"All right you three, get your hooves a-movin' back to the farmhouse, Big Mac and I have got work to do," she commanded.

"Fine," huffed Apple Bloom.

"I'll take them back to the farmhouse." She began leading the three fillies away, while Big Mac continued lifting the bales into the cart.

"Applejack, why is Big Mac so glum today?" asked Scootaloo.

"He's just a bit down, is all," she replied.

"But why?"

"Okay, if I tell you, you have to promise you won't tell a soul!"

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" The three ponies recited the Pinkie Promise.

"Okay, you can't tell anyone, but Big Mac was planning on proposing to Miss Cheerilee soon."

"What?!" exclaimed Apple Bloom, "My brother is marrying my teacher?!"

"Keep your voice down!" Applejack hissed, "You never let me finish. Yesterday when Pinkie Pie asked them if they were planning anything, she said it was too early for anything serious."

"Ohhh…" the three fillies said in unison.

"You've got to keep this quiet. I don't want anyone finding out and Big Mac getting embarrassed. You know how he is."

"Yup! Okay, we're gonna go play. See you later, Applejack!" grinned Apple Bloom. Once they were far enough down the path that they couldn't be seen from the farm, the three girls stopped and huddled round each other.

"We've gotta do something!" whispered Scootaloo.

"Maybe we should just leave it," said Apple Bloom, "I mean, wouldn't it be weird, my brother and our teacher getting married?"

"Yeah, but you might get to be a flower girl!" grinned Sweetie Belle.

"And if Miss Cheerilee marries your brother, you'd be family, and family can't give each other homework!" cheered Scootaloo.

"Hey, you're right!" exclaimed Apple Bloom, "Come on, we've got to convince them to get married!" The three girls headed off in the direction of the centre of town.

When they arrived at Sugarcube Corner, they saw Pinkie outside collecting empty plates and glasses.

"Pinkie Pie!" Apple Bloom called out.

"Oh, hi guys!" she smiled, "What's up?"

"We need your help," said Scootaloo, "We need you to plan a party for us."

"A party? Oh my gosh, yes! What's it for?"

"For Big McIntosh and Miss Cheerilee's thirtieth date. Can you do it tonight?"

"That is so cool! I'll get to work on it right away!"

"But you can't let them know about it. It's a surprise party. We're gonna go and invite them here tonight."

"Okay, I Pinkie Promise that they will not know. See you later!" The three girls left the café.

"Wait, how are we going to invite them without the other knowing?" asked Apple Bloom.

"It's simple!" said Sweetie Belle, "We tell Miss Cheerilee that Big Mac wants to meet her at Sugarcube Corner, then go and tell him that Miss Cheerilee wants to see him there."

"And then when they both show up, we all jump out and shout 'Surprise!', then we try to sneakily convince them that they should get married," cheered Scootaloo, "It's foolproof!"

"I don't know if this is going to work…" doubted Apple Bloom, "I mean, maybe it's best if they don't get married. If my brother marries our teacher, I'll never hear the end of it from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon."

"But what about your brother? Don't you want him to be happy?" Apple Bloom remembered how he had looked that morning, and how she wanted nothing more but to see him happy again.

"Okay," she sighed, "let's do it."

"Hooray!" Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo cheered as they jumped into the air.

"Who do we tell first?"

"Miss Cheerilee, she's probably at home just now." They wandered off towards her house.

When they arrived, Cheerilee was planting some new flowers into the borders of her garden.

"Oh, hi girls!" she smiled cheerily, "what can I do for you?"

"Nuthin'," replied Apple Bloom, "we just came to tell you that Big Mac wants to meet you at seven o'clock tonight at Sugarcube Corner."

"Tonight? How come he never told me?"

"Well…uh…." muttered Apple Bloom.

"He was so busy with his work on the farm that he sent us to tell you!" Sweetie Belle piped in.

"Oh, I see. All right, you can tell him I'll be there!"

"Okay, bye Miss Cheerilee!" The three girls trotted off down their teacher's front path until they reached the road, out of sight of Cheerilee. They high-fived each other in delight that their plan was coming together.

"Yes!" cheered Apple Bloom as she hoof-pumped the air, "Now to tell Big Mac that he's going on a date!" They began wandering in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

Big McIntosh was apple-bucking with Applejack when they found him.

"Big McIntosh!" they all shouted from across the orchard as they ran towards him, "We have something to tell you!" He looked at them, puzzled, as the three fillies arrived breathlessly in front of him.

"What?" he asked.

"Miss Cheerilee…says she wants…to meet you…at seven o'clock…at Sugarcube Corner…" wheezed Apple Bloom.

"She does?" he said, scratching his head.

"Yep!" grinned Scootaloo.

"Well, okay, I guess you can tell her I'll meet her there." They nearly gave the game away when they jumped in the air, cheering.

"Yippee!" they all exclaimed.

"I mean, uh…we'll tell her," stammered Scootaloo.

"Okay. Bye!" Just as the three of them were walking out of the gate of the orchard, Applejack caught up with them.

"Okay, spill. What in the heck is going on?" she demanded.

"Whatever do you mean?" smiled Sweetie Belle in an attempt to act nonchalant.

"I know Miss Cheerilee would have come and told Big Mac herself if they were having a date tonight. What are you three up to?"

"Well…we're planning a surprise party for them," mumbled Apple Bloom.

"What?! Why?"

"For their 30th date!"

"This had better not have something to do with what I told you three earlier."

"No…" said Sweetie Belle as she rolled her eyes suspiciously.

"Girls, I can tell when you're lying. Spill it." The three of them sighed.

"I just hated seeing Big Mac looking so sad this morning and after you told me why we decided we should try and convince Miss Cheerilee to marry him," spluttered Apple Bloom, "we just wanted to help." She looked sadly at her older sister.

"Girls, it's nice that you want them to be together, but grown-ups need to decide for themselves when they're in love," sighed Applejack, "You can't force two people to marry each other if they're not ready."

"We know. We're sorry."

"Should we tell Pinkie Pie that the party is cancelled?" whimpered Scootaloo.

"Well, now wait a minute," said Applejack, "I never said you should cancel the party, I just said not to push Big Mac into proposing."

"Soooo…we should just leave everything the way it is?"

"At the moment, yes."

"Yippee!" cried the three fillies.

"Now, you three head over to Sugarcube Corner and help Pinkie Pie get the party ready, and I'll send Big McIntosh over later."

"Thanks, Applejack," said Apple Bloom as she hugged her sister.

"Aw, shucks," said Applejack with a tear in her eye, which she wiped away with her hoof. The three ponies ran off to Sugarcube Corner to help Pinkie.

The shop was looking lovely: there were rainbow streamers, lots of different balloons, a chocolate fountain, tables laden with a plethora of party food and lots of cakes. Pinkie had even set up a drinks bar at the counter!

"Wow, Pinkie Pie," gasped Sweetie Belle, "This place looks amazing!"

"Thanks!" she beamed, "What time is it now?" Scootaloo looked up at the clock above the door.

"6.45, so they'll be here soon," she said.

"Great! I'll go get us some party hats." While Pinkie was setting out the party hooters and hats the guests began arriving. Soon, it was seven o'clock, and they all waited with baited breath for the lovebirds to show up. After a few minutes, they heard the distinctive sound of the bell ringing as the door opened. It was Miss Cheerilee, who looked around at all the guests, amazed to see everypony.

"Goodness, what is all this?" she gasped.

"It's a surprise for you and Big Mac!" laughed Pinkie Pie, "For your 30th date!"

"For us? How thoughtful! Thank you so much!" Rainbow Dash handed her a slice of cake, and the guests began to mingle.

Half an hour later, Big McIntosh still had not arrived, and everyone was beginning to wonder where he was.

"What's taking him so long?" moaned Apple Bloom.

"What if…he's not coming?" gasped Cheerilee, with a slight tear in her eye.

"No! He would never do that!" Scootaloo reassured her, "Not to you, Miss Cheerilee." She smiled at her three students.

"Thanks girls, you always know how to cheer me up!" The three fillies wandered over to the window to look out and see if he was outside.

"What do we do?" hissed Scootaloo.

"If he doesn't show up in ten minutes, we'll have to go looking for him," whispered Sweetie Belle, "Apple Bloom, any ideas where he could be?"

"Well," began Apple Bloom, "I would start looking for him at Sweet Apple Acres."

Ten minutes passed, and still there was no sign of Big McIntosh, which was clearly making Cheerilee feel like she had been stood up by him.

"We'd better go and look for him," said Apple Bloom in a concerned voice. Apple Bloom grabbed her saddlebag while she, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo slipped out the door, remaining unnoticed by anyone at the party.

"Come on!" puffed Scootaloo, "We've got to hurry so no pony notices we're gone." They rushed as fast as their hooves could carry them to the farm. Once they arrived, they split up in search of Big Mac: Scootaloo took the orchard, Sweetie Belle looked in the barn and Apple Bloom checked the farmhouse. Apple Bloom was running around frantically, searching each room for her brother, when all of a sudden she could hear someone sobbing. She gently pushed her brother's bedroom door open to see him sitting on his bed, looking at the ring in its box.

"Big Mac?" she said quietly, "What's wrong?"

"Nuthin'," he sniffed, "It's fine."

"I'm your sister, you can tell me, you know." He sighed heavily and looked down.

"I wanna ask Miss Cheerilee to marry me, but she said it's too early for anything serious. There's no point in me asking her now."

"But Big Mac, what about your date?"

"I…I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"Of going on this date and seeing her, wishing I could tell her how I really feel, and not being able to. I'm scared it won't be a good date, and she won't enjoy it…and that she'll leave me."

"Oh, Mac, Miss Cheerilee would never do that. She loves you, you just need to show her this. Do you want me to tell you something about your date tonight?" He looked over at his little sister curiously.

"It's actually a surprise party we organised for you and Miss Cheerilee because Applejack told me you wanted to propose to her and we wanted to convince her to say yes." His eyes widened.

"It is?" Apple Bloom nodded.

"I just…I saw how sad you were this mornin', and I thought that if we got her to say yes, you'd cheer up…"

"Oh…Well, Apple Bloom, that was nice of you, but you can't force someone to love someone. You should know that after last time -"

"And I do!"

"I know. It was nice of you to try, but if Miss Cheerilee says she wants to take it slow then I have to accept that. Come on, we'd better head to that party." They both stood up to leave, but just as Apple Bloom was about to close the door, she had an idea. She grabbed the ring box and tucked it into her saddlebag, then rushed out the door with her brother.

Back at the party, Pinkie Pie was trying to keep Cheerilee entertained and keep her mind off her tardy boyfriend by telling jokes, and it seemed to be working, until she ran out of good jokes.

"Uh…uh…what do you call…uh…" she stuttered, desperately trying to think of a joke, when the door opened to reveal Big McIntosh and the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Yay!" Pinkie squeaked, relieved, "You're here!"

"Yup!" smiled Big Mac. He winked at his little sister, who was still standing by his side.

"Well," she said, tapping the back of his leg, "Go on, she's waiting for you." He shyly moseyed over to his girlfriend, who gave him a small kiss on his cheek. Once Apple Bloom noticed they were together, she ran over to Pinkie Pie, dragging her over to the table of cakes.

"What is it?" whispered Pinkie.

"I got something I need you to do for me," Apple Bloom whispered back.

"What? Tell me!" Apple Bloom began whispering almost silently into Pinkie's ear her crafty little plan. Pinkie nodded once she understood.

"I got this," she said, "Leave it to Pinkie Pie!" She delicately scurried through the crowd of party guests, holding onto a tray with two apple cupcakes on top, until she reached Big Mac and Cheerilee.

"Cupcake?" she offered as she held the tray in front of them, making sure she kept to Apple Bloom's strict instructions.

"Ooh, yes please!" smiled Cheerilee. Big Mac picked his up without noticing that his cake was significantly different from his girlfriend's. She lifted her hoof to pick up her cake, but stopped, stunned at what she could see.

"Oh my goodness!" she gasped, "Big Mac, I…I…" In the centre of the cake, instead of the apple wedge, sat on top was the ring Big McIntosh thought he had left at home in his bedroom!

"What?" he gulped, "How did…?" He looked over to his youngest sister, who had circled the party guests around the couple. Big Mac took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and started to speak.

"Cheerilee," he began, "we've been together for a while now and…well, I…I love you. So much that I want to be with you forever…" Cheerilee was welling up.

"…and this is how I want to show it. Cheerilee?"

"Yes?" she whimpered quietly.

"Will you marry me?" Big Mac held his breath, as a massive smile beamed across his girlfriend's face.

"Yes! Oh my gosh, yes!" Everyone cheered, they had finally done it! Big Mac took the emerald and gold ring out of the cake, and Pinkie handed him a napkin to wipe off the frosting, before he sat the ring on her hoof.

"Oh, Mac," she gushed, "I…I…I love you!" She leaned in and kissed her new fiancé.

"I told ya she wouldn't say no!" Apple Bloom said proudly. Cheerilee chuckled.

"So," she laughed, "you were in on this too?"

"Yep! So were Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo!" Cheerilee put her hoofs around her three students.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that my three little star pupils helped my fiancé and I come together this time and last time. Just promise me something, girls?" The three foals looked up at their teacher. "Please, just leave this relationship to Mac and I? That is of course, after the wedding. I will need, oh, I don't know, three flower girls, I guess?"

"We promise!" cheeped Scootaloo.

"Yippee! We're gonna be flower girls!" cheered Sweetie Belle.

"And of course I'll need a lovely dress, and I know only the finest seamstress in Ponyville could provide me with that." She looked over to Rarity.

"I would be honoured," blushed Rarity.

"That just leaves bridesmaids and catering. Well, let's see, I know that this party was well catered for…perhaps you could do the food for our wedding, Mr. and Mrs. Cake?"

"It would be my pleasure," grinned Mr. Carrot Cake.

"Oh, and I can't forget the reception…" Pinkie was already standing right next to Cheerilee with her eyes as wide as grapefruits, pleading with her.

"Pinkie, would you -" She was interrupted before she could continue.

"Yes yes yes, a thousand times, yes!" she celebrated by bounding around the room with glee.

"Now hold on, this is a big job. Do you think you can handle this and being a bridesmaid?"

"Bridesmaid?" Pinkie stopped in her tracks.

"Why yes, I could never think of anyone but the six of you being there as my bridesmaids on our big day!" She gestured at Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Twilight and Apple Jack.

"Sorry Miss Cheerilee, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline your offer," Applejack uttered, "I need to be there for my big brother that day. It's nice of you to offer though."

"Oh Applejack," sighed Rarity, "can't you do both? It's just that…I already had the perfect dress in mind for you!" Applejack looked down, thinking.

"Well, it could be a best mare's dress," suggested Cheerilee.

"Yup!" chuckled Big Mac, finally speaking after all the chatter from the girls.

"Well, if it's all right with everyone else, then I'll do it!" Applejack accepted.

"Hooray!" celebrated Apple Bloom, her friends jumping along with her.

"They're getting married! They're getting married!" they sang.

The music started up again, and Cheerilee and Big Mac began to dance together, slowly, gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon pushed their way through the crowd to where they were dancing.

"But Miss Cheerilee," whined Diamond Tiara, "how come Silver Spoon and I don't get to be flower girls?"

"I'm sorry, but after all, Apple Bloom is going to be my new sister…"

"My teacher is going to be my sister?!" gasped Apple Bloom.

"Yup!" grinned Big Mac. He and Cheerilee turned back to dance, leaving Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon gobsmacked.

"Guys?" said Apple Bloom, "do you ever wonder if we _really_ broke the spell of that love poison?"

"I guess we'll never know…" muttered Scootaloo.


End file.
